Robert P. Briggs

Robert P. Briggs (April 3, 1903 – September 2, 1998) was chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago board of directors, vice-president of finance of the University of Michigan, and executive vice-president of Consumer Power Company of Jackson, Michigan. A graduate of the University of Michigan, Briggs served as a professor in the University's School of Business Administration, first as an administrator, and eventually as a member of the Board of Regents. Briggs spent 17 years as an executive vice-president at the Consumer Power Company, where he led various committees and organizations within the state of Michigan. Some of these organizations included: the Michigan United Fund, the Michigan State Chamber of Commerce, the Michigan Traffic Safety Commission, and the Alumni Association of the University of Michigan. Dividend magazine, a publication by the University of Michigan's then School of Business Administration, described Briggs' career as having, "embraced both academic and business worlds, and his activities have covered an almost endless range of community and business affairs."

Early life Robert Peter Briggs was born on April 3, 1903, in Monroe, Michigan, to parents Robert Douglas Briggs and Rose Pierce Briggs. His father was a superintendent of the Monroe, Michigan schools. He elected to attend the University of Michigan as opposed to the nearby Michigan State University because his eventual wife, Maxine Eloise Corliss, was attending Michigan State and thus he thought it would be a good idea if they attended different schools. He has described his academic struggles during his first year as being, "a good learning experience,"

Vice president of the University of Michigan In 1945, Briggs was named vice-president of business and finance at the University of Michigan, At the same time, the university was facing a significant problem: increasing enrollment because of soldiers returning from World War II who were interested in higher education. Upon Briggs' resignation, the Ann Arbor News wrote, "When he leaves to go to his new post, he leaves the University as a bigger and better place for his foresight and provision in fields once foreign to learning." He retired on May 1, 1968, because of a company policy of retiring at the age of 65.

On October 1, 1956, Briggs was added to the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Briggs would go on to lose the election for the state board of education. Briggs very much wanted to join the board of regents, saying later in an interview, "I definitely wanted (seat on Board of Regents) ... It was a great responsibility, because you were setting the framework with a pattern that was going to be followed. And the issues that came to the Board of Regents were pretty fundamental." Briggs was a member of the Board of Regents of the University of Michigan during a time when there was much political unrest in the university community, especially amongst the students. He would later say, "Our first reaction, of course, was we don't want that around here. But it wasn't were long before you realized that this was something that was with us, and we had to find a way to work with the students and gradually it was recognized as something you had to face up to." In 1992, Briggs was awarded the Alumni Achievement Award from the University of Michigan's School of Business Administration's Alumni Society Board of Governors. They said, "Through a long and successful life, (Briggs) has always used his talents to guide himself and others toward the highest standards of citizenship and service and achievement in both the public and private realms of his life." In 1969, Briggs was awarded an honorary Doctor Of Law from the board of regents of the University of Michigan.

Vision for education Briggs' strong vision for public education in America and for the University of Michigan prompted him to say, "But part of it is other things in the minds of the public becoming a lot more important than higher education. And to my mind, higher education is the most important responsibility that the University has" in reference to the importance of higher education. Briggs also accurately predicted that with the decrease of the size of the auto industry within the State of Michigan, the university would see a cut in the size of its state funding and thus would have to rely more heavily on private funds.

Personal life and death Briggs married Maxine Eloise Corliss December 22, 1925, in Lansing, Michigan. Together they had two children: Ruth and Peter. Briggs died on September 2, 1998, at the age of 95, at his home in Elk Lake, Michigan.